Improvement in machines for forming staple-seams in leather



S. W.- SHOREY. Machines for Forming Staple-Seams in Leather.

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Patented Feb. 25., 1873.

2 Sheets--Sheet2.

s.'w. SHOREY.

Machines for Forming Staple-Seams in Leather. No. 136,340,PatentedFeb.25,1873.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

SAMUEL W. SHOREY, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOR TO ARZA B. KEITH, OF

BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN MACHINES FOR FORMING STAPLE-SEAMS IN LEATHER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 136,340, dated February25, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL W. Snonnv, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Machinefor Forming Staple-Seams in Leather- Work; and I do hereby declare thatthe following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompaniesand forms a part of this specification, is a description of my inventionsufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

The invention relates to an organization of mechanism for unitingleather-work by means of staples, or the formation of staple-seams, suchas are described in United States Letters Patent No. 131,308, themachine being designed to out the wire into staple-forming lengths, toform and drive the staples, to twist together the driven and protrudedpoints of each, to out off the excess of metal at the point, and to feedthe work for insertion of successive staples in the formation of acontinuous seam.

The drawing represents a machine embodying the invention.

Figure 1 shows the machine in front elevation. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation of it. Fig. 3 is a plan of it.

a denotes a stand, at the top of which are bearings for a horizontaldriving-shaft, b. 0 denotes asuitable work-supportin g plate, upon whichthe material rests. On one side of this plate is a guide, 11, upon whichthe wire rests, and over which it is fed to the machine. Above thisguide is a feed-wheel, 6, having a wire-entering groove, f, or aperipheral surface roughened, grooved, or otherwise formed for feedingforward the wire, the guide being cut away or so formed as to permit thewheel to bear upon the wire. This wheel has an intermittent rotativemovement imparted by means of a ratchet, g. On the inner face of thewheel e is a pawl, h, jointed to a rockerarm, t, which, by a link, k, isconnected to one arm of a lever, l, whose other arm is actuated by acam, m, on the shaft 1), to throw down the pawl and turn the feed-wheel,and by a spring, j, to raise the pawl. The inner end of the guide standsat some distance above the work-plate c,- and the forward part of thewire, after the wire is fed,projects beyond the guide and over a rest oranvil, n, the wire passing between two cutter-blades, 0 1), located justbeyond the end of the guide. After the wire is fed forward a bender, q,descends against it and holds it, while the cutters sever astapleforming length. The cutter 0 is stationary and the cutter pmovable, the latter cutter being attached to the lower arm of a verticallever, r, the upper arm of the lever being thrown forward (as the benderdescends) by an incline, s, on a bar, 2?, extending from the driver-bar,thereby bringing the cutters together and causing the wire to be severedby them, the cutter being drawn back when the bar t ascends by asuitable spring. The rest at is of a thickness-equal to or about equalto the width of the staple between its prongs, and the bender has a forkor bifurcation, a,

the two prongs of which, as the bender descends, bend the wire over therest, which is located so a's'to come centrally under the staple wire orblank, carrying the two parts of the wire down to the sides of the rest,and thereby forming the staple-prongs, the top of the rest being roundedto form the bow or top of the staple. The bender is at the foot of adriver-bar, t, that slides vertically in suitable bearingsin the head ofthe standard a, and the bar I? is reciprocated by a link, 1), connectingthe bar to a crank-pin extending from the cam-wheel m.

The pieces of leather to be united are laid upon the work-plate 0beneath the rest n and the guide 01, and through the work-plate is cut aslot for the passage of the staple-prongs.

The bender slides on the bar t, and is pressed downward by the stress ofa spring, w, a suitable stop limiting its motion. As the bar it descendsthe bender forces the wire down over the rest or former n, and thenstrikes the top of the work and acts as apresser-foot, the bardescending or continuing to descend against the stress of the spring w.At the foot of the bar t is the driver 00, that drives the staple, andwhen the bender has reached the work the driver follows down andstriking the staple forces the staple down with it. If the staple wereunsupported the action of the driver would tend to bend or cripple it;and to furnish proper support for the staple as the driver 7 descends,the anvil rest or former a is kept in the staple, supportingit until itshead reaches or nearly reaches the work, the rest for this purpose beingmade inclined or tapering, as seen at Fig. 2, and having a positiveretreatin g motion as the driver advances, the ad Vance motion of thedriver and the retreat mo,- tion of the rest coinciding so that the supporting-surface always bears a fixed relation to the position of thedriver. For this purpose the rest is made as a slide, and is jointed atits rear endto the lower arm of a vertical lever, 1 whose upper arm isactuated by a cam, 2, on the driving-shaft b to draw the rest back, therest being thrown forward by a spring, 0.

With the arrangement of mechanism as shown the feed of the work iseffected before the staple is wholly driven, and as follows: The bender,resting upon the work, straddles the head of the staple, and, before thedriver has completed its descent, the head is swung laterally, (thebender. driver, and rest or former swinging with it,) and the bender,(or the former,) being in connection with the staple, moves the staplewith it, and thereby effects the feed of the work, the descent of thedriver being completed as the feed is effected. The head is swung bymeans of a lever, b", one arm of which has a slot, in which moves aslide jointed to the leverarm, and the other arm of which has a pinresting against a cam, 0 on the drifing-shaft, the cam producing thefeed movement of the head and a suitable spring its back movement. Thestaple being driven through the work, its points protrude through thework-plate, and these points are twisted together and trimmed asfollows: Beneath the work-plate is a spindle, d having fixed to an arm,a, a-tits top, a stationary nipper, f (stationary with respect to thespindle,) and a movable nipper, 9 The spindle extends through a verticalsleeve, h and at its foot by the stress of the spring. The spindleslides vertically in the sleeve h but the spindle and sleeve rotatetogether, the sleeve turning in suitable bearings. When the staple isdriven the nippers are stationary, and their jaws are far enough apartto let the staple-prongs pass between them, the two jaws and thestaplepoints being in parallel planes and the movable jaws being held bya spring, p The staple-prongs being in this position, the cam m beginsto rotate the nipper-spindle, and, as the spindle and sleeve rotate, aspiral or camgroove, (1 on the sleeve, by connection with a stationarypin, 1, that enters the groove, causesthe sleeve torise and. forces anincline,

s against the arm t of the movable nipper, causing the nipper-jaw togripe the protruding staple ends and twist them together. As therotation of the spindle and sleeve continues the sleeve is raised stillhigher, bringing another incline, a, against the arm e", thereby forcingthe movable nipper-jaw 9 against the other jawf, and clipping off theends of the staples not twisted together, or the excess ofstaple-points. The spring 2 then draws back the-rack k reverses themotion of the pinion, and restores the nippers, spindle, and sleevetotheir normal position. The bearin gs c and work-plate are fixed to avertical slide, and while the twisting operation is progressing a pawl,Q12, pushes down the slide, thereby dropping the work-pla-te and leavingthe swinging head and bender free to move back over the work. The pawlis jointed to the horizontal arm of a lever, w", the vertical arm ofwhich is actuated by a cam, {0 on the driving-shaft, to throw the pawldown, the horizontal leverarm being raised by the stress of a suitablespring. The tooth ot' the pawl is pressed for- Ward by a spring, 1 andengages with a toothed plate, a, at the back of the slide a. A suitableguard-plate may be used to determine the point at which the pawl shallengage with the toothed plate. The slide is pressed upward byv thestress of asuitable spring, and a suitable stop limits its upwardmovement to bring the work-supporting plate into proper position. Todrop the work-plate for entrance of the work a lever, I), may beemployed.

I claim- 1. The combination with the work-supporting plate, themechanism for intermittently feeding the wire, the mechanism for cuttingthe wire into staple-formin g lengths, the mechanism for bending eachlength into staple form,

and the mechanism for driving the staples, as combined and arranged, andoperating substantially as shown and described.

2. In combination with the wire-feeding and presenting mechanism, thebifurcated foot q and rest or anvil a for bending the wire,substantially as described.

3. In combination with the bender-foot q and driver as, the inclined andretreating anvil n, operating substantially as described.

4.. In combination with the work -plate 0 and the mechanism for drivingthe staple, the rotating nippers 9 as arranged to twist thestaple-points, substantially as described.

5. In combination with the twisting nippers, the mechanism for actuatingthe nippers to trim oil the points of the staples, substantially asshown and described.

6. In combination with the mechanism for feeding the work, driving thestaple, and twistin g the staple-points, the work-plate having adownward movement previous to back movement of the swinging head,substantially as and for the purpose described.

Witnesses: SAML. W. SHOREY..

FRANCIS GOULD, I M. W. Fao'rnmenam.

